


The Vault

by RelentlassHuggerSquad



Category: Professional Wrestling, WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Becky and Bayley are trying to figure out who the killer is, F/F, F/M, Fallout Shelter AU, Gen, More characters to be added as the story progresses - Freeform, Multi, Murder Mystery, People are gonna die, locked in a vault, serial killer au, there's hundreds of people in this vault, whodunit mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:34:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26515297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelentlassHuggerSquad/pseuds/RelentlassHuggerSquad
Summary: Nakamura Industries decides to host an experiment/contest where people from all walks of life will live in a massive multi-layer, underground fallout shelter. If you manage to stay for 180 days then you win a million dollars. If you leave outside the shelter for any reason or if you break the vault rules you forfeit. Amenities are included, there is a state of the art medical facility, gym, laundry, library, entertainment floor, and some of the best chefs in the world. If you pay extra you get your own room, if you didn’t you have to share with a stranger. Have fun surviving when there is a serial killer on the loose. It’s up to Interpol detective Becky Lynch and well-known journalist Bayley to get to the bottom of what is really going on in the vault/contest.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 13





	1. The Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AttackPlatypus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackPlatypus/gifts).



Shinsuke Nakamura had never been more proud of anything, then he was of the fallout shelter he had created. It was an expensive undertaking that he had spent the better part of a decade working on. His vault could almost be compared to a sort of underground city, with at least ten different floor levels for different activities and stations. The Nakamura Industries vault was a labor of love, that Shinsuke had invested the majority of his fortune into, as well as a lot of his company's money and stock. 

His project wasn’t meant for just him, he meant to share his creation with the world. There were skeptics out there that mocked him for preparing for a catastrophe that would never happen, but Shinsuke liked to think that he was being prepared. He was a strong believer in the fact that life had a lot of great ups, but it also possessed a lot of horrible downturns. Shinsuke was prepared for the inevitable, it was better to be safe than sorry. 

People had mocked him, had ridiculed his desire to build a self-sustaining shelter. There was no way that they were laughing at him now. His structure had state of the art medical facility, a fully equipped gym with modern machines. There was a fully furnished library and cafeteria. Two of the floors were equipped with rooms for over two-hundred people. The sixth-floor was an entertainment floor filled with different attractions like a little arcade, a ten-lane bowling alley, and a four-screen private movie theater that alternated showing. No people weren’t laughing at the normally exclusive inventor, instead, they were now clamoring to explore his biggest project yet. 

When Shinsuke was a boy he had read about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the story had given him the idea to invite different members of the public in to see what he had built. An old family friend Asuka, who had helped in creating his fallout shelter vault, had given him the idea to hold a contest. Two-hundred random people could apply or be selected to stay in his vault for a hundred and eighty days. If they succeeded without breaking any of the vault rules then at the end of their stay they would all be awarded a million dollars each and a stake in his company. But if they lost then their share of the money would be split between the victors and he could earn his own little justice. They had mocked him before, but now that he was going to show them what he had built, they wouldn’t mock him again. 

Shinsuke had spent the last eight months not only planning the contest but working with Asuka to select workers for his underground shelter. He had hired security guards, sanitation workers, world-famous chefs, emergency workers like paramedics, doctors, and firefighters should something go wrong in the fault. He had also made sure to hire scientists and engineers to help him run tests on his facility and the people who would be staying on the vault. He didn’t want anything to go wrong during this whole event. If enough people enjoyed the contest then there was a distinct possibility Shinsuke would open up his vault to more people and make more money off of it. 

Asuka had been the one to help him make a guest list and mail out invitations to different people around the world. Combined she and Shinsuke had spent millions of dollars promoting the contest and event, and getting people excited for it. She had picked some of the biggest naysayers and doomsday preppers who had spoken out against Shinsuke, but Asuka also used an algorithm to select random people from social media, newspaper clippings. She knew that Shinsuke wanted an unbiased pool of people for his contest and experiment so that’s what she sought to give her boss. 

Her program had picked Australian heiresses, and movie directors, to police detectives, celebrities, doctors, and librarians. There were business owners, mayors of small towns, former military service members, diplomats, and old mafia dons. It was a wide variable pool, filled with participants from around the world. Asuka was excited, to say the least, she wanted to see Shinsuke’s dreams come true. 

Shinsuke was ready to see his masterpiece realized. It was the night before the grand opening and he sat in his office, glancing at the camera monitors. The vault's staff were already moving in and prepping for the next day. He was watching them closely, studying their behaviors and personalities.

"Is it ready?" Shinsuke asked, glancing over his shoulder at Asuka. 

Asuka nodded, she had spent most of that day answering emails. "When the competition begins tomorrow, the whole world will be watching with bated breath to see what the great Shinsuke Nakamura has been working on. I hired that trio you wanted to film the confessionals, by the end of the six months we should have enough footage to sell this as a reality tv show.." 

Shinsuke smiled, nodding his approval. "Six months from now, the whole world will want to buy their own Nakamura Industry vaults." It had been a risk to invest this much of his fortune into one project, but he was proud of what he had created. His vault laid on the outskirts of Santa Cruz California in one of the large forests and nature preserves. 

Originally he had wanted to base his vault in Japan, but he hadn't gotten permission. Now it simply didn't matter, a decade of hard work had all led up to this moment. 

"Asuka, are our workers ready?" 

Asuka nodded again, she had seen to it personally that the staff would be trained. "They will be ready for the opening tomorrow, don't worry Nakamura." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Tomorrow our future begins. I am going to sleep now, are you going to retire to your quarters?" 

Shinsuke waved her off and shook his head. "I want to take one last look at the contestants, familiarize myself with the players." 

"Of course, see you tomorrow then." Asuka dipped her head respectfully. She was used to Shinsuke's off behavior, he was a master strategist and a bit of a control freak. She couldn't really expect anything less of him, it was his nature to run through every possible outcome. She didn't doubt that he had already picked the person he thought was most likely to win the competition. 

Shinsuke thumbed through the massive folder he had, which listed information about the various contestants. The very first person in his folder was a renowned doomsday prepper, Tommaso Ciampa. Shinsuke was very interested in what the other man would have to say about the vault.

Certain names had been highlighted by Shinsuke, if anybody was going to be successful in obeying the rules and thriving in his bunker of sorts, it would be those people. Becky Lynch who was an Irish detective and sometimes worked with Interpol, Shinsuke had tapped her to be his personal pick to win. She had busted an art thief from Paris a few years back and ever since then Shinsuke had followed her career. 

There were a few other people he had a larger interest in, Asuka's friend Kairi who was a navy captain was coming to the vault, he wanted to impress her. UN ambassadors like Walter and Xia Li, celebrities like Sasha Banks, Mike Mizanian, government officials like Senator Shane McMahon, and mayors Glen Jacobs and Lacey Evans, they all were on his list.

Surely there were a couple of wild cards, the Australian heiress Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, as well as a conspiracy theorist and radio host Cory Graves. Mixing all these different people was dangerous, forcing them to live together for six months seemed like a recipe for disaster but Shinsuke wasn't worried. He had hired emergency response teams to live in the vault and a security force to keep the peace should things go awry. In his opinion, he had prepped for every possible outcome.

At the end of this, his name was going to be in all the big papers, he had made sure of it by inviting award-winning news journalist Bayley Martinez. He trusted her to give an honest review of the Nakamura Industries Vault. Shinsuke had highlighted Bayley's name with two different highlighters. Out of everybody in the vault, he felt she was truly the wildest card, Becky was his main pick to win, but Bayley was his dark horse. 

Closing his folder, Shinsuke stood to his feet. It felt almost unreal that the competition was less than twenty-four hours from kicking off, but he was ready for it. Tomorrow he would greet his guests and he would lay out all of the rules for the vault competition. Hopefully, enough people would want to stay, and then his experiment's obversation could begin.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Becky and Bayley are introduced and then the first murder. Things are not as they seem in the vault.

Bayley Martinez hadn’t expected to get an invite to Shinsuke Nakamura’s underground vault. She had heard about it, of course, she had been more than a little curious, but actually scoring an invite hadn’t been on her radar. Yet somehow she had managed to luck out, it seemed that the powers that be wanted her there. Asuka Urai had sent an email to Bayley’s editor asking for Bayley to participate. 

So now with a couple of hundred others, Bayley found herself being guided towards the elevators that would lower them into the vault. She was tempted to take the staircase, she was a little claustrophobic and didn’t trust the elevators. However, she knew she would need to get used to this feeling. This place was going to be her home for the next six months. She wasn’t in it for the contest money, if she somehow won, she had already decided to donate most of her winnings to different charities in her hometown of Oakland. 

Her first real thoughts as she descended into the vault was that it was larger than she had anticipated. She had seen a lot of multiple story malls in the Bay Area, but this place seemed to put it all to shame. There were people near the entrance to this floor level, that were taking everybody’s suitcases and luggage, with the promise that they’d be in the guest's rooms. How Shinsuke had managed to build this all underground, Bayley had no clue but she was thoroughly impressed. In the distance, she could see Shinsuke standing on a sort of raised platform welcoming his guest like he was Walt Disney at the opening of Disneyland. 

Bayley had done her research on him, he had been a tech genius, an inventor that had no living equal. At least until a car crash had scarred his face and taken the only woman he had ever loved from him. He had retreated into himself, behind his castle walls, still inventing but avoiding the public. Bayley had a feeling this was the first time he was surrounding himself with this many new people at one time. He was wearing a bright red suit and seemed to be genuinely smiling. There was a shorter Japanese woman standing next to him, that Bayley recognized as Asuka. 

Asuka’s outfit seemed to be more reserved than Shinsuke, she was wearing a grey suit and looked more put together. Honestly from her reputation, Bayley wouldn’t have expected anything less. Bayley’s research on the woman had taught her that Asuka was the heir apparent to Shinsuke’s company. A brilliant inventor in her own right, the press had dubbed Asuka the ‘Empress of Tomorrow’ for her inventive ideas. Yet, for some reason, she seemed all too willing to be second fiddle to Shinsuke. 

Bayley followed the flow of the crowd, hanging towards the back of it so she could people watch. There were already a lot of semi-familiar faces in the area, different politicians, and celebrities that Bayley vaguely knew from her stories. She had a feeling that she would be seeing a lot of these people since they were all going to be trapped in this underground mega-bunker for the next six months. There was a part of her that wondered if she could form connections with some of the fellow contestants, that she could use later once the competition was finished. 

“This place feels almost like an underground amusement park.” 

Bayley glanced to her left, smiling at a tall blonde. “Yeah, it’s pretty insane. It’ll be cool though.” Bayley mused, before extending her hand. “Bayley Martinez, I’m a journalist.” 

“Charlotte Flair, I’m just a teacher.” Charlotte shook her hand before looking to the stage. “I don’t know how I got selected for this competition, but I hope I can win. My school district could really benefit from the money,”

Bayley’s smile widened. “Well with motivations like that, I think you’ll stand a good chance.” She trailed off as Shinsuke began to speak and welcome them all to his underground bunker. 

“This is the future, a community of different people united in the goal of getting along harmoniously,” Shinsuke said into the mic. 

“Sounds like a commune.” A voice called from somewhere in the crowd, earning a bunch of snickers and laughs. 

Bayley rolled her eyes, but Shinsuke carried on, acting unphased as if he hadn’t heard the comment at all. Bayley had to admit she admired that about the genius. She listened intently as he talked about the different things the vault had to offer. 

“I want you all to have the opportunity to get to know each other. There is a large banquet in the cafeteria that I set up. Please follow me, I set up lots of tables, large enough for ten people to sit. I hope you all have lovely conversations, I’ll be making the rounds.” Shinsuke mused, with a warm laugh. 

Bayley was curious about the sleeping arrangements but she figured Shinsuke would give them more details at the banquet. He seemed to have spent a lot of time organizing and trying to make everything perfect. She turned to glance at Charlotte and offered a friendly smile. 

“Want to sit together?” Bayley asked. 

Charlotte nodded, thankful for the friendship lifeline. “Yeah, I’d appreciate that.” She mused, giving her a warm smile. 

Bayley felt a little more at ease now too, Charlotte seemed easy enough to talk to and Bayley always enjoyed making more friends. It made things seem a little more hopeful and a little less bleak to have somebody to talk to.

The duo walked towards the table, making small talk. Bayley was interested to know about Charlotte’s teaching job, she found the blonde easy to talk too. She also filled the blonde in on the different things that she had reported about during her career. 

“It’s so cool that you’ve got to visit all those different places.” Charlotte mused, sounding impressed as they took their seats. 

Bayley shrugged. “I really do enjoy my job, I like to travel.” She admitted sheepishly. She liked cracking breaking news stories and doing pieces on people who often deserved more recognition. “Met a lot of interesting people in my line of work.”

“That’s actually super impressive,” Charlotte said. 

Nodding Bayley looked around the cafeteria, watching as the tables began to fill up. Slowly a bald man with a salt and pepper beard made his way over to sit at their table. He had a crazed look in his eyes, he wore a dark black tank top and a pair of camo cargo shorts. 

“Can I sit here?” He asked, clearing his throat. “The name is Tommaso Ciampa.” 

“Bayley Martinez and go ahead.” Bayley gave him a nod. She was curious about how he got his invitation but she figured he would share the details if he wanted to. She wasn’t going to pry into something that wasn’t any of her business. 

“I’m Charlotte, it’s nice to meet you Tommaso,” Charlotte said politely. 

Tommaso grunted and made himself comfortable in the chair. He didn’t seem all that friendly, but Bayley just chalked that up to him possibly being nervous. 

Eventually, more people came and sat, filling the rest of the chairs up. Bayley did her best to introduce herself and make mental notes about each person. She wanted to know who could possibly be fun to hang around with and who was better to avoid. 

There was Montez Ford who had recently gotten out of the Marines. Lacey Evans who was the mayor of her small town, Bayley had heard of her before and didn’t have many nice things to say. Walter who was a UN translator, Bayley had seen him before and didn’t like the way Lacey was trying to weasel her way into his good graces. Candice Lerae was at their table, Bayley did like her because she seemed to be a friendly librarian lady. 

Charlotte seemed to make friends with Naomi, Kelly, and Trish who also sat at their table. Naomi owned a nightclub that was popular in Atlanta and Trish was a yoga instructor up in Canada. Bayley did her best to listen when they talked but found herself getting irritated with Lacey who kept talking over Naomi. Kelly seemed like a timid mouse of a person, though she did have a bubbly personality. Apparently, she was some sort of barista at her father’s coffee shop. Bayley figured she liked Naomi, Kelly, and Trish, they along with Charlotte were probably some of the good ones. She really couldn’t get a good read on the others. 

Eventually, Shinsuke made his way over to greet them, Asuka trailing half a pace behind him a large iPad in her hands. Shinsuke greeted them with a respectful bow. “Welcome to the Nakamura Industries vault. I’m Shinsuke and this is my right hand and vault manager Asuka.” 

Asuka bowed her head respectfully as well. “It is so nice to finally put faces and names together.” 

“Asuka could you please give them their room cards. We have set everybody up with a roommate during the stay, hopefully, everybody will get along, but if there are any issues, feel free to let us know. If you could tell Asuka your name and she’ll give you your room key.” Shinsuke explained. 

Well, that certainly answered Bayley’s questions about the rooming situation. Asuka slowly worked her way around the table, Bayley was quiet listening to the other talks. There were certainly some opinionated people at her table. Finally, Asuka stopped just in front of her. 

“You are Ms. Martinez yes?” Asuka asked, clearly recognizing her. 

“Yes, but you can call me Bayley. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Bayley said dipping her head respectfully. 

Asuka respectfully nodded her head as well and flashed a warm smile. “You as well. Your room is on the fourth floor, room 424.” Asuka said, handing her a keycard. “Your roommate is Becky Lynch. I can send her over to meet you when I find her or you can just meet later in the room.” 

“I’ll just meet her later in the room,” Bayley said, not wanting to put Asuka through that. She figured Shinsuke’s assistant was busy enough already. 

“Alright then.” Asuka seemed relieved to have one less thing on her to-do list. “If you have any questions, feel free to ask.” She said, before moving onto Charlotte who was next to Bayley.

Shinsuke meanwhile was watching Bayley intently. “Do you mind walking with me for a second Ms. Martinez?” 

“Sure thing, Mr. Nakamura.” Bayley wasn’t sure why she was being singled out, but she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to Shinsuke. People had been trying to interview him for years and he was pretty reclusive. 

Shinsuke waited for Bayley to fall in step with him before offering her a small smile. “Do you know how long I have been working on my pet project here?” 

Bayley tilted her head to the side. “Officially probably about a decade, but honestly knowing your brilliance a lot longer.” 

Shinsuke flashed an amused smile. “You honor me, Ms. Martinez. You are correct however, this has been my dream for a very long time.” He gestured around the building at all the different people. “I hope to change the world, everyone assumes people are just too different to see eye to eye, but I believe I can make a difference.” 

“That is a pretty lofty goal.” Bayley conceded with a small chuckle. 

“This contest in particular though, my money is on you to win it or be one of the winners. You’re smart, you know how to read people. I think that makes you a real contender.” Shinsuke admitted patting her on the shoulder. 

Bayley had to admit she was surprised by the praise but also honored. “I appreciate you saying that sir. I don’t think you should cast your bet on me yet, I may end up failing.” 

“True one can never tell what will really happen. But I have faith in you Ms. Martinez, don’t forget that.” Shinsuke replied before clearing his throat. “If you will excuse me, I need a drink of water. I am sure I will be seeing a lot of you, enjoy your stay.” Shinsuke called over his shoulder, as he left Bayley standing there. 

If she was confused at all by his behavior she tried not to show it. Bayley knew he could be a bit of an oddball and tried not to think too much of it. She made her way back to her table, trying to ignore the questioning look that Charlotte was sending her way.

“What did he want?” Charlotte asked when Bayley sat down. 

“It’s nothing really, just telling me about his vault. I think he wants good press.” Bayley said, trying to downplay what Shinsuke had said to her. There was no reason to tell anybody else that right now, besides it might only make them feel bad. She liked this Charlotte woman and she found that she did not want to hurt her feelings. 

Charlotte didn’t look like she believed her, but she did let it go. There was no point in questioning Bayley and making things particularly awkward. “Well you didn’t miss much here, this lot is an interesting bunch, but kind of dull at the same time,” Charlotte whispered. 

Bayley studied the people at her table, she wondered which of them that Shinsuke thought would make it far too. Tommaso seemed like a sure candidate to survive, Lacey would probably end up driving a lot of people crazy so they’d leave. Montez and Naomi seemed like they might do well, and Trish definitely seemed like a wild card. 

Glancing down at her room card, Bayley wondered what her roommate was going to be like. She hoped this Becky Lynch person was at least tolerable otherwise the next six months were going to be annoying as hell. 

\-----

Becky Lynch had to admit that a six-month ‘vacation’ was not her idea of a good time. The Irish Interpol agent had been told that she needed to take some vacation time, but really her organization just wanted to have somebody in the bunker. There were going to be a lot of high profile people in the bunker for six months, and Interpol wanted her to keep an eye on things. Her boss had told her, she could use some of the time to relax, but it wasn’t what she imagined so far. 

She tried to read up on the people who were in the bunker, some had basic files, others had files that read like war and peace. The ginger detective had wanted to go in prepared but that didn’t mean much when there were literally hundreds of files not only of the contestants but the workers in the bunker. Becky had also devoted a lot of time to read up on Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka Urai. They were of course quite the interesting duo.

The Irish woman had listened to Shinsuke’s speech about how he hoped that they’d find friends and community. Perhaps the Irish woman was a little jaded, but she wasn’t sure she was going to grow close to any of these people. Her line of work made real friends a rarity. She could be cordial of course, but she was naturally suspicious of people. The few friends that she did have, had gotten somewhat used to her questioning nature. 

Sitting down at one of the tables, she took a moment to observe the different people filing in, taking notes of faces. She recognized a few from the different files she had red. Sasha Banks a famous movie star and aspiring rapper plopped into a chair opposite Becky but didn’t otherwise address her. A man covered in satanic looking tattoos walked over and offered a grim half-smile, introducing himself as Aleister, before asking if he could sit. Becky of course nodded politely. Slowly the table began to fill up, two Australian hotel heiresses, Billie and Peyton took their seats next to Sasha. Mickie James who was a country singer, Adam Cole who was a racecar driver, Jack Swagger who sold cars, also sat at the table. Rounding out the group however was somebody that Becky was extremely familiar with: Dave Finlay. 

Being from Ireland herself, Becky had grown up with the horror stories of Finlay. He ran one of the largest mafia families in Ireland and was notorious for his bipolar rage. He could be smiling at you one minute and then knifing you to death in the next. Becky felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, as he flashed a cheeky smile her way. 

“I’m surprised they let you off your leash,” Finlay commented, boldly taking one of the seats near Becky. 

Becky forced herself to remain calm. “I’m surprised you’re still alive old man.” 

Finlay just laughed. “I see you got some of that old fire in ya. Let's play nice, why don't we? Tell me, how’s old man McGregor?” 

Becky gritted her teeth, trying not to think of her old mentor. “Shut up.” She warned, her grip tightening on the utensils in front of her. 

Finlay’s eyes flickered to the butterknife in her hands and he snorted. “Careful now Lass, we have to get along for six months. Who knows, by the end of it you might want to give me a kiss.” 

“That’ll be a cold day in hell.” Becky shot back, clearly irritated. 

However, their conversation was interrupted as Shinsuke and Asuka finally reached their table. Becky was feeling particularly angry but did her best to stifle her rage. It hadn’t been proven, but she had always thought that Finlay had something to do with McGregor’s death. He's poking at that old wound was the only confirmation she needed. All she wanted to do was jab the butter knife into his eye socket but she managed to hold her rage back. Now was not the time to be reactionary, she had waited over two years for justice for McGregor, she could wait six more months. She was definitely going to try and alert her bosses about Finlay. 

"Is everything alright?" Shinsuke asked, noting the weird tension that permitted the air. He looked between Finlay and Becky, trying to make sense of what was going on. "

"Of course, me and the lassie here were just having some fun, weren't we?" Finlay laughed his annoying boisterous laugh, which seemed to draw the attention of those surrounding them. 

"Everything is fine Mr. Nakamura." Becky conceded, forcing a polite smile. She didn't want to be rude to Shinsuke, if anything she found him particularly interested. Her gaze drifted to the shorter woman behind him. 

Asuka was staring down Finlay like she was hyper-aware of all the things he had done wrong. It was probably accurate to say that she did, considering how much research had gone into everything. Forcing a somewhat polite smile, Asuka shifted her attention to Becky.

"Ms. Lynch, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the vault. I was actually just speaking to your roommate Ms. Martinez, she seems like a lovely person." 

Becky nodded slowly, a piece of her had hoped she might be able to bunk by herself, but she hoped that whoever she had to bunk with for the next six months would be reasonable. She hadn’t realized until too late that having a room to herself was an option. However, it wasn’t like she had the money to afford a single room. 

"I look forward to meeting her." She said evenly, taking the key card that Asuka had offered her. 

She tried her best not to glare at Finlay, but she couldn't help the scowl that etched itself on her features. She knew she needed to be keeping an eye on the rest of the table, but seeing the old Irish mobster had thrown her off her game. He had always been able to get under her skin, McGregor had warned her not to lose focus, it had been her mentor's first lesson. Becky didn't want to let him down, so she decided to remove herself from the situation and make her way towards her room. She wanted to meet her new roommate. 

It didn't take her that long to find the room, and walked in, surprised to find that apparently, her roommate had already beat her there. "You must be Bayley." 

Bayley glanced over her shoulder and cracked a small grin. "You must be Becky Lynch, Asuka mentioned you." She held out her hand to shake Becky's, trying to make a good impression. 

Becky eyed the hand that was offered to her and studied the woman. Bayley’s hair was dark and she had a sort of dimpled smile. She shook her hand and then cleared her throat. “I hope she only mentioned good things.” 

“I am not sure Ms. Urai is capable of saying anything negative.” Bayley laughed and nodded to the beds. “I took this side, but if you preferred the right side of the room, I don't mind switching.” 

“It’s not a problem,” Becky said, waving her off. She didn’t care what side of the room she had. She was used to sleeping wherever there is an open space. “As long as there is a comfortable spot, I am there,” Becky added evenly. 

The room wasn’t much to look at, the sleeping quarters were small, but the beds seemed to be big at least. There was a bathroom attached that had a shower-bathtub combo and a small kitchenette. 

“I feel like I’m back in my freshman year of college.” Bayley mused as she finished unpacking her clothes into the dresser drawers underneath the bed. "Sharing a room with a stranger, in a building with even more strange people. You never know if your roommate is going to be the best or the worst."

Becky raised a brow and then chuckled. “I never stayed in the dorms at my university. I realized quickly that it wasn’t my kind of place.” Becky admitted as she pulled a picture out of her bag and stuck it on her nightstand. "Hopefully, neither of us will end up being a bad roommate." 

Bayley hummed in agreement, before taking note of what Becky was doing. “Is that your boyfriend?” Bayley asked quietly, nodding to the picture of Becky with a man. He seemed to be a good decade older than Becky, but Bayley didn’t want to judge. 

“No, McGregor wasn’t my boyfriend. He was a good friend though, kind of like my guiding light. One of the best mentors I ever had. He passed away a few years ago.” Becky swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to push down the feelings of regret that she felt. “So what do you do?” 

“I am a journalist, I cover a lot of different things. My publisher seemed to think there was a story to be told from being in the Nakamura vault, so that’s how I ended up here.” Bayley explained. She shrugged her shoulders, she was naturally curious and she had a feeling there was more to Becky, but she didn’t want to pry just yet. Something told her that it wouldn’t be a good idea. 

“There are always interesting stories when a group of this magnitude is assembled. I hope you find the story you’re looking for. If you’ll excuse me I’m going to go brush my teeth and then get some sleep. I had a long flight from Ireland.” Becky explained, excusing herself from the conversation. She wasn’t sure what to make of Bayley, but as far as roommates go, the journalist didn’t seem so bad. 

\----

Shinsuke felt like a kid in the candy store as he studied the cameras in his office. Most of the contestants had already gone to their rooms, but a few were lingering and checking out the different levels of the vault. He could see a few of the vault workers cleaning up the messes left behind and generally maintaining the place. He was pleased to see his project working so well. 

"Shinsuke, I have made sure the vault is locked. Is there anything else you need before I retire for the evening?" Asuka asked as she appeared in his doorway. She still had her tablet in hand, but his vault manager was looking a little tired. 

"You have worked so hard Asuka, go rest up. Maybe grab yourself a drink, you deserve one." Shinsuke encouraged her, wanting her to have a good time. Honestly, she had helped take his crazy dream and bring it to life and for that, he was incredibly grateful. 

Asuka's face softened. "Kairi did arrive, she's been busy with the navy. It will be nice to see her after so long." Asuka had missed her childhood best friend. "Alright if you need me, you know where I am and how to get a hold of me." 

"You're off duty now Asuka, go settle and have a drink. Maybe on your way out, you can tell Mr. Murphy to stop flirting with the contestants. We have that no fraternization policy for a reason. After that your time is yours. I think I'll head to bed soon myself. We did it." He gave her a grateful smile and turned his attention back to the cameras as Asuka left. Pulling a bottle of scotch from his desk, he poured himself a drink and then looked at the picture he kept of his late wife. 

"I am sorry my love that I could not keep you safe. I wish things were different. You always believed in my crazy dreams, Asuka humors me, but she is not you." Shinsuke tenderly ran his fingers over the picture. He had learned after her death that money was no substitute for true love, and it definitely couldn't buy long-lasting happiness. 

People had assumed he built his vault out of greed, that he was being cooky. But there was a piece of himself that blamed the world for taking his true love. People could always think that tragedy would never touch them, but money didn't prevent grief. The world saw a reclusive and eccentric inventor, a modern-day Willy Wonka of invention and technology. Truly Shinsuke was just trying to fill his time so he didn't have to confront how truly empty he felt inside. Her death hadn't been his fault, but it might as well have been.

He was so caught up in his thinking and reminiscing that at first, he didn't hear his office door open again. It was only when he heard footsteps that he began to turn around. Shinsuke felt the cold bite of steel as it plunged into his neck. His eyes widened in horror. He didn't even get to utter anything else, as the knife was pulled free, spraying his desk, the laptop, and the picture with his life's blood. 

The murderous figure stepped back from Shinsuke, eyes dark as they watched the light drain from his eyes. Then they turned, locking his door as they stepped out of the office, careful to avoid the cameras. 

As Shinsuke fell from his chair, his arm knocked the bloodstained picture off the desk, causing it to land by his body. The last thought he had was that his wife would be waiting for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think murdered Shinsuke? Dun Dun Dun!!!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find Shinsuke's body

Becky was just starting to wake up when she heard a pounding at the door. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced over at Bayley who was fast asleep in the other bed. Grumbling under her breath, Becky swung her legs over the edge of the bed and slowly got to her feet as the pounding at the door began to get louder. 

She opened the door to find a stern-faced woman staring at her. The woman was dressed in a vault security uniform, her name badge read S. Baszler. Becky studied for her a second and raised a brow. 

“Can I help you?”

“Are you Becky Lynch?” The woman asked, though, by her tone of voice, it was clear she knew who Becky was. 

“Yes, I am. What can I do to help you?” Becky asked, trying not to sound so grumpy. 

“I am going to need you to get dressed and come with me. Ms. Urai has asked for me to bring you to her office.” The security guard replied with a monotone. 

Becky slowly looked down at her pajamas and then back at the guard. “Give me just a second.” She shut the door and quickly got dressed, doing her best to be considerate of Bayley who was still trying to sleep. 

Her mind was going a million miles a minute. She wasn’t sure why Asuka wouldn’t just come to get her by herself, but there was a chance that Asuka could have been busy. Throwing her hair into a lazy bun, Becky exited her room. 

“Did Asuka say what she wanted?” Becky asked, trying to gauge if she was in trouble or something. “What should I call you?” 

“My name is Shayna, but most people call me Baszler. Asuka didn’t say what she wanted, she just sent me to get you and bring you back.” Shayna replied gruffly. 

Becky decided at that moment to stop asking Shayna questions for the time being. She didn’t think Shayna was going to give her much to work with anyway. Shayna didn't strike her as the type to be all that talkative and forthcoming with information. By the time they reached Asuka, the vault director was standing outside of Shinsuke's office, messing with the handle. 

"Is everything okay Asuka?" Becky asked curiously. 

Asuka turned when she heard Becky's voice and tried to plaster what was supposed to be a reassuring smile across her face. "I can't seem to get into Shinsuke's office and I am a little worried. I don't think he went home last night, and I'm a bit concerned." 

"Don't you have a key to his office? Why not have vault security let you?" Becky was starting to get an uneasy sort of feeling in her gut. She shifted her attention to the door and began to inspect it. 

"Mr. Nakamura has always been particular about his safety and privacy. We don't have a key to his office and neither does security." Asuka explained calmly. She was starting to look a little frazzled, the worry was shining through her eyes. 

Becky exchanged a look with Shayna and then began to knock on the door herself, a little louder. "Mr. Nakamura, are you in there?" She asked, raising her voice an octave. 

"I can kick the door down." Shayna offered, gruffly after a moment. 

"Have you checked the rest of the vault for his location? I'd hate to jump the gun..." Becky trailed off. 

"There is a system to log who comes and goes from this corridor," Asuka explained, holding out her tablet to show Becky what she was talking about. "After I left his office last night, there was no record of anybody coming or going." 

"You were the last person to see him?" Becky raised a brow and then nodded to Baszler. "Alright go ahead and kick down the door. What kind of mindset was Shinsuke in when you saw him last?" Becky questioned. 

Asuka shrugged her shoulders, suddenly realizing that being the last person to see Shinsuke made her seem suspicious. "He seemed excited about the vault. He had been working on it a long time, he seemed happy I suppose. Nothing out of the ordinary." 

Shayna stepped back and then began to try and kick down the door. It was a pretty solid door so it took her a couple of tries, but she finally kicked it down. Before the security guard could step inside, Becky grabbed her by the elbow and shook her head. 

"Stand back," Becky ordered, not quite sure what they would be walking into. 

Just inside the office was Shinsuke’s body, his wife’s picture on his chest. Becky had seen a lot of horrifying things and quickly stepped back out to prevent Shayna and Asuka from entering the scene. “Asuka, please go fetch the rest of the vault security team. Baszler, I am going to need you to stand guard.” 

Asuka looked confused. “What’s going on, is Shinsuke okay?” She tried to peek around Becky, but the Interpol detective blocked her view. 

“Trust me when I say you don’t want to see him like that,” Becky said softly but yet still firm. “It’s not pretty.” 

Horror filled Asuka’s eyes and she began to cry. “Shinsuke.” The way his name fell from her lips, broke Becky’s heart. 

However if Asuka had been the last one to see him, that meant she was a suspect. Becky knew she needed to keep that in mind. It was a hard thing to process, but by Asuka’s reaction, Becky’s gut instinct was telling her that Asuka wasn’t the one responsible for the crime. 

“Listen to me, the only thing you can do right now to help Shinsuke is to go get the rest of the vault security team as I asked. We need to make sure the vault is locked down.” Becky said, placing a hand on Asuka’s shoulder. 

Asuka looked completely shattered by what had transpired but gave a shaky nod. “Okay, I’ll go fetch them.” She cast a wary look at Becky and then turned and walked off in the direction of the vault security headquarters. 

Becky watched her go before shifting her attention to Shayna. “When the rest of your team gets here, we’re going to need to review the footage from outside Shinsuke’s door as well as the surrounding hallways. We need to be thorough.” 

Part of Becky was wondering if they’d be able to contact the outside world. Surely Shinsuke’s death would be the end of whatever weird experiment this was. Becky wasn’t quite sure what to do, but she was trying her best to keep a handle on the situation. 

Shayna nodded slowly. “Look, all I know was that Asuka came to get me when she couldn’t get into Nakamura’s office. I don’t know what happened before then, but I’ll see if I can find some sort of footage. My team is good and they’ll be at your disposal.” 

“Thank you,” Becky replied, surprised that Shayna could actually say that many words at once. Shayna didn’t strike her as a woman who wasted words. 

“We are all on the same side.” Shayna grabbed her radio and put in a call to some of her security team that was out doing sweeps of the different levels. 

Becky watched her go and then let herself back into the room with Shinsuke’s body. She made sure not to touch anything, not wanting to contaminate the crime scene. From what it looked like, the vault’s inventor had been drinking. There was a bottle of whiskey in the trashcan nearby, as well as a bottle of wine that was half empty, most of its contents were poured out on Shinsuke’s desk. 

A deep frown settled on Becky’s face as she took a moment to really inspect what had occurred. Shinsuke didn’t look at all peaceful, somehow even in death, he looked worried. Becky forced herself to look away, now was not the time to get emotional. She was a good Interpol agent because she could push down the personal attachment. 

[I]- Across the vault-[/i]

Bayley had been awake for a few minutes now, she had woken up when Becky had been asked to come to see Shinsuke. As a reporter, Bayley could smell a story a mile away. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she could tell something was up. So after a quick shower, she got dressed and decided to go explore the vault. 

She was making her way to the elevators when she spotted Asuka looking distraught inside of the one that opened. Bayley blinked in surprise and then stepped inside. 

“Are you alright Ms. Urai?” 

Asuka sniffled and hurriedly wiped her eyes. Right now was not the time to be emotional. “I’m fine, just something in my eye,” Asuka said, trying to wave off Bayley’s concern. 

Bayley looked skeptical but just pushed the button for the food court level. She noted that the only other button lit up, was the one for the security floor level, which was near the basement. Bayley filed that information away for later. 

“I heard Becky being summoned earlier, you needed to see her?” 

Asuka’s eyes flashed dangerously but the fire melted abruptly from her gaze. “I had forgotten for a moment that you were sharing a room with her. You are an inquisitive one aren’t you?” 

Bayley gave a lighthearted shrug. “Curse of the profession I guess. I wouldn’t be a good journalist if I was afraid to ask the hard questions.” 

Asuka seemed to consider this for a moment, before nodding. “I suppose you’re correcting. I don’t think I am supposed to tell you what’s going on, but you can ask Ms. Lynch later if she tells you that’s different.”

Bayley’s mind was now spinning in a hundred different directions. She could tell something was up and the fact that Asuka wouldn’t just come out and say it led her to believe it was something serious. 

“I think this is your stop,” Asuka said as the elevator dinged. She was anxiously tapping her foot, clearly wanting Bayley to hurry out. 

Bayley forced a small smile. “You’re right, I’ll see you around Ms. Urai.” She climbed out of the elevator, watching Asuka until the door slid shut. The vault manager was clearly trying and failing to hold it together.

Something was going on and Bayley was now determined to get to the bottom of it. She was going to get something to eat and then hopefully she could track down Becky and figure out what was going on. It clearly had something to do with Asuka and Shinsuke, but beyond that, Bayley wasn’t certain. 

[I]- Back at Shinsuke's office-[/i]

By the time Asuka had arrived with the rest of the security team, Becky was almost positive that Shinsuke had been murdered. There was a lot of evidence to review and she knew she would need to check the security footage. The longer she had studied his office the more convinced she had become. 

There was a murderer in the vault and she was going to make it her personal mission to find them. Becky turned to look at Shayna who was barking out orders. 

"Do you think there is anybody in the vault who would have wanted to harm Mr. Nakamura?" Becky asked, studying Shayna's expression. 

"Not that I am aware of. He did shake a lot of hands yesterday but he always had a guard nearby. You can ask any of his protection detail." Shayna offered, trying to assist Becky in whatever way she could. Shayna felt guilty for Shinsuke's death. 

Becky glanced over the other vault security guards and nodded. "I think I will conduct some interviews. Are there any other office spaces that I can use? I don't think conducting it in here would be good." Becky was attempting to crack a joke, but by the look on Shayna's face, it had fallen flat. 

"Sure, there are some offices not far from here, just down the hall. If it's okay I'll want to keep a personal eye on Asuka. Whoever attacked Shinsuke, could be after her next." Shayna replied. 

Thinking it over, Becky slowly nodded. "Okay sure, stay with her. Until we know more, it's probably best that we keep what happened to Shinsuke from the others. Reports of Mr. Nakamura's death could lead to panic and the last thing we want is everybody panicking." Becky wanted to keep the peace, besides if they wanted to catch the murderer, they were going to need the element of surprise. 

"After you finish interviewing and clearing my security team, maybe I can help you interview the rest of the contestants." Shayna offered. 

"I might take you up on that." Becky was sure that she was going to need all the help she could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not as long as the other chapters, but I wanted to get something out to you all. Happy holidays y'all

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the Nakamura Vault, I hope you buckle up because this ride is about to get bumpy. Watch out for the serial killers and mind your manners, 180 days in a vault is enough to drive anybody mad. 
> 
> I've had this idea since the beginning of the year. I actually wrote out 80+ characters/wrestlers for this, to be part of the vault. I even wrote out their motivations. Depending on the kind of response this gets, I might allow some fan/reader votes on which characters might get killed by the serial killer(s).
> 
> Enjoy your stay at the vault, be sure to leave kudos and comments, they help.
> 
> Also trigger warning there will be deaths, nobody is really safe in this story.


End file.
